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After I do a backup, it seems that an awful lot of my memory remains used - far more than before. Is there a way to remove the memory useage left after the backup - short of rebooting?

Hi Dolph

Our records do not show which operating system or version of AISBackup you are using. Reading your posts on this forum I guess you are using either Windows 98 or Windows ME.

I have checked the beta version of AISBackup and there are a few minor memory leaks (296 bytes) and these are been fixed.

You state that memory usage is high after using AISBackup, please tell us:

Which tool you are using to measure memory usage.

The version of AISBackup that you are using.

The Windows version you are using.

The backup source and destination (CD, Disk, Network etc).

Barry

To measure memory: RAM Booster v 1.6
AIS ver 1.6.3
WIN 98
Backed up to an external hard drive connected via a USB2 connection

Thank you for your prompt response.

I would appreciate a response to my response!! Thank you.javascript:emoticon(':?')
Confused

Hi Dolph

The delay has been because some research needed to be done before the question could be answered properly.

Programs like RAMBooster do what they say, they recover RAM that is no longer in use and RAM that is in use but can be discarded. The perceived problem with AISBackup is owing to the way Windows works.

AISBackup is extremely file I/O intensive; I guess you know this, as it is a backup program Windows caches files in RAM as it is very much more efficient to access files from memory rather than disk. Windows keeps files (or rather portions of the files that have been read or written) in cache for as long as possible, just in case a program needs to read them again. This memory is however available for new programs, this can be demonstrated by the fact that when RAMBooter reports nearly 0 RAM free you can still run some large programs.

A better way to view what is happening is by using a resource monitoring program like TaskInfo2003 from http://www.iarsn.com/ The top section splits RAM usage between File Cache and Windows/Programs so you can see what is happening.

It is possible for us to reclaim the file cache from RAM to make the report from RAMBooster look better but is this really necessary? I guess it is if AISBackup is perceived to use memory without giving it back. What do you think we should do?

Barry

Thank you for your thorough response which was very helpful. As to whether you should "reclaim the file cache" - it depends upon how hard it is for you to do. And only you can be the judge of that. Now that I understand what the problem is, it no longer worries me. In fact, I'm probably going to stop using RAM Booster knowing that the number it gives me does not reflect what I can actually do. In fact, the memory indicator in Norton Utilities probably gives me a better indication of the useful memory.

I'm flattered that you asked my opinion - probably a first in software support; it's what makes your program so useful.javascript:emoticon(':D')
Very Happy

Hi Dolph

The File Cache RAM will be flushed in the next version of AISBackup.

You may have noticed that the RAM reclamation process is not too quick so the reclamation process is stopped after 3 seconds (This is usually enough time). AISBackup will only recover the greater of half the RAM or the amount of available RAM when AISBackup is started. This new option can be disabled by de-selecting the Tools / Program Options / Advanced / Flush RAM Cache option.

This option is not needed or made available on Windows NT, 2000 or XP; my opinion it is not needed on Windows 95, 98 or ME either, but if AISBackup is perceived to be a memory eater ...........

Barry